Chet Helms, or Chester Leo Helms, (August 2, 1942 to ~June 25, 2005), born in Santa Maria, California, was the eldest of three sons born to Chester and Novella Helms. Helms' father, a manager in a Santa Maria sugar beet mill, passed away when he was 9. His mother took the Helms boys to Texas, where they were raised by a fundamentalist preacher grandfather. Mr. Helms migrated to San Francisco after dropping out of the University of Texas at Austin in 1961 and soon found his way to a boardinghouse at 1090 Page Street. Mr. Helms was the folksy San Francisco contemporary of rock impresario Mr. Bill Graham (promoter) and headed the "Family Dog" performance production company in the electrified, high-flying, 1960's San Francisco rock music scene. Santa Maria is a city located in Santa Barbara County, California. ... The University of Texas at Austin, often called UT or Texas, is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. ... Bill Graham (January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was a well-known concert promoter, beginning in the 1960s. ...

Photo Merge by Bruce Eisner Image File history File links ChetHelms. ...

The Chet Helms Alternative

While Mr. Graham was the more business-oriented of the two, Mr. Helms seemed to relish his down-to-earth, folksier image. His persona spoke directly to the San Francisco hippy subculture since clearly he was "one of them." The San Francisco Chronicle called Mr. Helms "a towering figure in the 1960s Bay Area music scene," and indeed he was a huge contributor. Hippies (singular hippie or sometimes hippy) were members of the 1960s counterculture movement who adopted a communal or nomadic lifestyle, renounced corporate nationalism and the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and/or Native American religious culture, and were otherwise at odds with traditional middle class Western values. ... The San Francisco Chronicle, the self-described Voice of the West, is Northern Californias largest newspaper. ...

He embraced music for music's sake and the beat-hipster-generation-turned-hippy philosophy. While the war raged in Vietnam and the nation stuttered with race problems and assassinations, the anti-war, anti-establishment youth willingly found itself in the throes of a social revolution. Although there was a crux of about four years during which "it all happened," this epoch certainly merged with and overlapped the "beat scene" of the Fifties and the free thought that was its quintessence. As people who were caught up in this new sentiment sported long hair instead of short, hung out in parks or the street instead of coffee shops, ingested psychedelics instead of red wine, gulped massive doses of acid-rock and blues instead of jazz, extolled free love and pranksterism instead of Zen, socialism, or intellectualism, and "dropped out" instead of being active in movements, Helms was right there to keep cranking out bands and musicians that espoused the same lifestyle as this new audience, while giving the very distinct impression that he wasn't in it for the money.

Mr. Helms' shows were always more relaxed and offered a pleasant alternative to Bill Graham Presents dances, at a more reasonable admission, and with more room for the stoned-out, freaky, arm-waving, type of solo dancing that personified the era. At a Family Dog dance one would more likely see people dancing, for one, or in various, controlled states of disorientation, or singer Maria Muldaur sitting on the floor with Country Joe McDonald, watching the Great Society band, with vocalist Grace Slick belting out "Somebody To Love," looking sexy in a leather, boots, and a short skirt, backed by her husband, Jerry Slick and brother-in-law, Darby Slick, who wrote the song. One also got the feeling that the audience was an integral part of the concert and was apt to see a bandmember IN the audience, dancing, socializing, buying a drink, or maybe hitting on a young tender. The Avalon always seemed mellower, while the Fillmore in the later 1960s, perhaps through its popularity, seemed to draw more social observers: military personnel on R & R, minors, runaways, weekend hippies, tourists, drunks, gawkers. The nearby Mt. Zion Hospital kept a late-night clinic to accommodate the many drug overdose cases from the Fillmore's less experienced hallucinogen experimenters. Orientation can refer to different things. ... Maria Muldaur (Born Maria DAmato on September 12, 1943 in New York) is a roots-folk singer best known for her song Midnight at the Oasis. ... Country Joe McDonald Country Joe McDonald (born January 1, 1942 in Washington, D.C.) was the leader and lead singer of the 1960s rock & roll group Country Joe and the Fish. His best-known song is his I Feel Like Im Fixin to Die Rag, a black comedy novelty... Grace Slick on solo album cover, released in 1999. ...

At his dance-rock shows (sometimes called "peace rock" dances -- a segue from the earlier peace rock dances at the Fillmore Auditorium, produced by entities like the San Francisco Mime Troupe, predecessors of Mssrs. Helms and Graham), Helms was always floating around or mingling with the crowd, looking a bit like Jesus Himself, with his beatific smile, long beard, hair down the length of his back, colorful clothes, and sometimes wearing a hat. In fact a Family Dog motto was "May the baby Jesus shut your mouth and open your mind," probably a reference to a psychedelic drug high. The motto was seen on the bottom of the posters promoting the rock show/dances produced by both Graham and Helms, displaying the sometimes brilliant psychedelic art of the day, from artists like Stanley Mouse (b.k.a. "Mouse"), Rick Griffin and Alton Kelly. The large wall-size posters often adorned the walls of people's homes with their splendid colors and soon became collectors' items. The light shows at the dances were often superb, done by artists like Bill Ham and Jerry Abrams. The Family Dog logo, often seen on the posters, was a long-haired man, possibly a Chief, wearing a top hat. Some later posters (possibly by Mouse) displayed a dog with a top hat. The Fillmore, also known as Fillmore Auditorium, is a legendary music venue in San Francisco, California made famous by Bill Graham (1931-1991). ... The San Francisco Mime Troupe is a group of political, satirical actors, who perform free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California. ... Richard Alden Griffin (June 18, 1944 - August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. ... Alton Kelly is an American artist best known for his psychedelic art, in particular his designs for 1960s rock concerts and albums. ...

The Family Dog main venue was the Avalon Ballroom, 1268 Sutter Street, San Francisco (famous as an early 1900's club and a nickel-a-dance dance hall, later featuring 1940's jazz bands), though Helms used others like ventures in Denver, Portland, and joint productions/promotions at the Fillmore, Longshoreman's Hall, and Haight Street's Straight Theater (not all formal Family Dog Dance-Concerts), etc. After an eight-year long hiatus, Helms resurged to produce anniversary-type functions like the First "Tribal Stomp" at Berkeley's Greek Theater (1978), a Tribal Stomp in the Monterrey, California Fairgrounds (1979), which included the UK's "The Clash", the 30th Anniversary of the Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park (1997), a free event attended by 60,000 people. This article refers to the state capital of Colorado. ... Portland is the name of numerous cities in the English-speaking world, the largest of which are Portland, Oregon and Portland, Maine in the United States. ... The Customs House at Monterey View of Monterey Bay and its kelp A sea lion rookery at the marina Museum interior with ship models and equipment Kelp Forest display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey is a city near the Pacific coast in northern California. ... The Clash was one of the most successful British punk rock groups that existed from 1976 to 1986. ...

Family Dog Concerts

In the context of the Avalon's "anti-business model," and loose ambience, Mr. Helms' Family Dog would always carry great shows, with premier musical acts. The list is long, compiled from the memory of having been there and from poster art websites. It is presented here:

Mr. Helms presented top blues performers like Howlin' Wolf; Bo Diddley; Muddy Waters; Little Walter; Buddy Guy; Junior Wells; the Paul Butterfield Blues Band; Buddy Miles; James Cotton Blues Band; John Mayall; Big Mama Thornton; Albert Collins; Steve Miller (musician); Mike Bloomfield; Elvin Bishop; Blues Project, with Al Kooper; John Hammond; Charlie Musselwhite; Siegal Schwall; rock bands like the Doors; Buffalo Springfield; the Byrds; Bill Haley and the Comets; the Kinks; the Animals' Eric Burdon & War; Mothers of Invention); Lovin' Spoonful; The Carlos Santana Blues Band; Sir Douglas Quintet; the Soul Survivors; the Fugs; Blood, Sweat & Tears; The Association; Shorty Featuring Georgie Fame; Iron Butterfly; the Youngbloods, with Jesse Colin Young; Vanilla Fudge; Steppenwolf (band); Poco; Love, with Arthur Lee (musician); sarode-player and Indian music teacher, Ali Akbar Khan; Sandy Bull; Blue Cheer; the Leaves; New Riders of the Purple Sage; Barry McGuire; the Flamin Groovies; the Loading Zone; It's A Beautiful Day; Joy of Cooking; the Grass Roots; the Sons of Adam; Sons of Champlin; Captain Beefheart; the Electric Flag; Son House; Velvet Underground; Pacific Gas and Electric; Moby Grape; the Sopwith Camel; 13th Floor Elevators; The Charlatans (U.S. band); Allmen Joy; Mother Earth; Southern Comfort; Ace of Cups; Tyrannosaurus Rex; Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band; Flying Burrito Brothers; Congress of Love; Notes From the Underground; Chrome Circus; Initial Shock; Oxford Circle; Daily Flash; Electric Train; Sparrow; the Orchestra; Hourglass; Kaleidoscope; Mt. Rushmore; Other Half; Phoenix; Lothar & the Hand People; Commander Cody; Cleveland Wrecking Company; Rhythm Dukes; AB Skhy Blues Band; Frumious Bandersnatch; Eighth Penny Matter; Jimmerfield Legend; South Side Sound; Super Ball; Solid Muldoon; Box Top; and jazz artists San Francisco's own John Handy; Charles Lloyd; the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood; and folksters Joan Baez; Dave Van Ronk; Jim Kweskin Jug Band; Taj Mahal; Tim Buckley and Flatt & Scruggs. Howlin Wolf album cover Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known as Howlin Wolf, was an influential blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player. ... Bo Diddleys emphasis on rhythm largely influenced popular music, especially that of rock and roll in the 1960s. ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 or 1913–April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered the father of Chicago blues. ... Little Walter (born Marion Walter Jacobs) (May 1, 1930 - February 15, 1968) was a blues singer and harmonica player. ... Buddy Guy (born George Guy, July 30, 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana) is an American blues music and rock music guitarist, as well as a singer. ... Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 - January 15, 1998), real name Amos Blackmore, was a blues harmonica player based in Chicago who was famous for playing with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Lonnie Brooks, the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. ... Paul Butterfield (December 17, 1942 – May 4, 1987) was an American blues musician, and one of the most innovative harmonica players of the Chicago-originated electric blues style. ... Biography Best known as the drummer in Jimi Hendrixs Band of Gypsys, Buddy Miles also had a lengthy solo career that drew from rock, blues, soul, and funk in varying combinations. ... James Cotton (born July 1, 1935 in Tunica, Mississippi), is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who is the bandleader for the James Cotton Blues Band. ... John Mayall, OBE, (born 29 November 1933) is a pioneering British blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. ... Big Mama Thornton album cover Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton (December 11, 1926 - July 25, 1984) was an American blues singer. ... Albert Collins album cover Albert Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993) was a blues guitarist, singer and musician. ... Steve Miller Steve Miller (born October 5, 1943) is a blues and rock and roll guitarist and performer. ... Mike Bloomfield album cover Mike Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American musician, guitarist and composer. ... Elvin Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock and roll musician and guitar player. ... Cover of Charlie Musselwhites Stand Back album Charlie Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944 in Kosciusko, Mississippi) is an American blues harp (harmonica) player and band leader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. ... The Doors self titled debut. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... L-R: David Crosby, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn The Byrds were an American rock music group founded in Los Angeles, California in 1964 by singers and guitarists Jim McGuinn (he later changed his name to Roger McGuinn), Gene Clark, and David Crosby. ... Bill Haley, with his band, the Comets, was one of the first rock and roll acts to tour the United Kingdom. ... The Kinks, a British Invasion pop/rock band, were formed in London in 1963 by Dave Davies and Peter Quaife. ... The US edition of The Animals self-titled debut album. ... Eric Victor Burdon (born May 11, 1941, Walker-on-Tyne, Northumberland) was the lead singer of The Animals and later of War. ... Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 - December 4, 1993) was an American rock/jazz fusion musician, composer, and satirist. ... John Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American songwriter and harmonica player. ... Carlos Santana in concert, Barcelona 2003 Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born 20 July 1947 in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico) is a Mexican, Grammy Award-winning musician and Latin-rock guitarist. ... Sir Douglas Quintet was a popular Rock and Roll group of the 1960s. ... The Soul Survivors were an American R&B group, known for their 1967 hit Expressway to Your Heart, which was the first hit by Philadelphia soul producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. ... The Fugs are a New York City band formed in 1965 by Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver on drums. ... Blood, Sweat & Tears was an Canadian-American rock and roll group formed in New York City in 1967. ... Cover from 1966s And Then. ... Georgie Fame is a British R&B singer whose real name is Clive Powell. ... Iron Butterfly was a U.S. hard rock and psychedelic band, mostly known for their sole hit In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has reincarnated several times with various members. ... This article refers to the 1960s band The Youngbloods. ... Vanilla Fudge was an American psychedelic rock band that recorded albums from 1967 to 1970. ... Steppenwolf album cover Steppenwolf is a 1960s and 1970s rock n roll band, best known for the hits Born to Be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride. They were named after the novel Steppenwolf by German author Hermann Hesse. ... Poco is a band that was started by Richie Furay (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Jim Messina (lead guitar and vocals) following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. ... Arthur Lee is the enigmatic and volatile frontman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of the legendary Los Angeles psychedelic band Love, best known for the critically revered 1967 album, Forever Changes. ... Ali Akbar Khan (born April 14, 1922) is one of todays most accomplished Indian classical musicians and known for his mastery of the sarod, a beautiful, 25-stringed Indian instrument. ... Sandy Bull was a folk musical artist who was active in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. ... Blue Cheer was a San Francisco-based heavy metal group of the late 1960s. ... The Leaves were an American garage band formed in California in 1963. ... New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage was a 1970s country rock band from Marin County, California. ... Barry McGuire (born 15 October 1935) is an American singer-songwriter. ... The Flamin Groovies were an American rock music band of the 1960s and 70s. ... Its A Beautiful Day was the child of violinist and vocalist David LaFlamme, formed on a beautiful day in San Francisco in 1967. ... Cover of The Grass Roots album Anthology: 1965-1975; (l. ... The Sons of Champlin is an American rock band, formed in the late 1960s and hailing from the San Francisco-Bay area. ... Don Van Vliet (born Don Glen Vliet on January 15, 1941 in Glendale, California), is a musician and painter, best known under the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. ... Biography When guitarist Mike Bloomfield left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1967, he wanted to form a band that combined blues, rock, soul, psychedelia, and jazz into something new. ... Son House, circa 1965 Eddie James House, Jr. ... The Velvet Underground and Nico (from left to right: John Cale, Nico, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker) The Velvet Underground (Affectionately known as The Velvets, or V.U. for short) was an American rock and roll band of the late 1960s. ... Moby Grape was a rock music group of the 1960s, formed by manager Matthew Katz (of Jefferson Airplane) in San Francisco. ... 13th Floor Elevators were a rock music group founded in Austin, Texas in late 1965. ... The Charlatans was an influential psychedelic rock band that played a pivotal role in the development of the San Francisco scene in the 1960s. ... Cover of The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969) The Flying Burrito Brothers were an early country rock band, best known for their massively influential debut album, 1969s The Gilded Palace of Sin. ... John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933 in Dallas, Texas) is an American jazz alto saxophonist. ... Charles Lloyd on stage with Billy Higgins Charles Lloyd (March 15, 1938-) is an American jazz musician. ... Joan Baezs 1975 bestseller Diamonds & Rust. ... Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was a folk singer born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York City, and was nicknamed the Mayor of MacDougal Street. ... Tim Buckley from Happy Sad Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an experimental vocalist and performer who incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock in a short career spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Flatt and Scruggs Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were influential bluegrass musicians during the 1950s and 1960s. ...

The core San Francisco rock bands, the Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service (including pre-Dino Valenti), would play for both Graham's concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium, once a Black Muslim temple, and the Family Dog at Helms' Avalon dances. To concertgoers, the Helms' contributions to the music world, like introducing a singer he knew in Texas, Janis Joplin, to the San Francisco music scene, were not always well-publicized, but witnessing the final product of Ms. Joplin, with her powerful, emotional, raspy-voiced performances was an awesome spectacle. First introduced as a new bandmember of Big Brother, she brought what the Dead, Quicksilver, and Big Brother, heretofore didn't seem to possess in their original lineups -- a lead singer aspiring to the greatness of the golden pipes of the Airplane's singers Marty Balin and (post-Great Society) Grace Slick. Ms. Joplin left Big Brother to produce solo albums and make her indelible dent in rock history, starting with a stellar performance at the Monterrey Pop Festival. Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the LSD-influenced psychedelic rock movement. ... The Grateful Dead was an American psychedelia-influenced rock band. ... Big Brother and the Holding Company was a rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the psychedelic music scene that also produced the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. ... // Biography Valentes Involvement Quicksilver Messenger Service was one of San Franciscos original psychedelic bands in the 1960s. ... The Fillmore, also known as Fillmore Auditorium, is a legendary music venue in San Francisco, California made famous by Bill Graham (1931-1991). ... The phrase black Muslim is a term used mostly in the United States. ... Janis Joplin on the cover of her posthumously released live album In Concert Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American blues-influenced rock singer and occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. ...

Although some of the performances were replete with lengthy, drug-induced instrument solos, technically perfect renditions were not paramount. Creativity was the essence, and fine, innovative muscianship shone through as this style of using long solos, rambling as they were, borrowed from (while re-popularizing) a vast spectrum of musical idioms, including R&B, East Indian, pop, country, bluegrass, and, to an extent, jazz. These were the Anti-Battle of the Bands and it was uniquely entertaining to hear core S.F. bands' good-natured, obvious replications of each others' lead guitar styles. One would hear, for example, a guitarist, break into a brief, tongue-in-cheek, Jerry Garcia-like interlude. This was out of respect for the other S.F. rock bands, and it was Big Fun to hear and dance to the different renditions of Wilson Pickett's "Midnight Hour, the upbeat "You Don't Love Me No More," and other songs. Music that featured long solos suited stoned, time-distorted audiences, and was soon used by bands everywhere, in performance and recordings, later becoming a major vehicle for helping launch what would become a new FM radio station music format -- the less-commercial "Album-Oriented Rock," in the form of "underground" stations that sprang up coast-to-coast. Musician exposure on these airwaves further helped the popularity of concert-oriented rock, and bands that were more wont to play for hours without stopping, as the two-minute hit temporarily was cast to the wayside. The viability of songs with long, art-centric solos gained reaffirmation with the commercial success of the many radio stations that became part of the new genre, striving to be part of the "movement." Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an African-American R&B and soul singer. ...

Family Dog Speakers/Poets

Sometimes Helms cast the music promoter role aside and the Family Dog would feature speakers Alan Watts, Dr. Timothy Leary, Stephen Gaskin, poet Allen Ginsberg), and other counter-culter gurus. Along with these icons that he helped catapult more into the public eye, Helms will always live in the annals of San Francisco Sixties lore, with people like Bill Graham, the Diggers (theater), Emmett Grogan, Ken Kesey, to add to the list of colorful 50's heroes, literary and otherwise, like Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Neal Cassady, Kenneth Rexroth, Ralph J. Gleason, and many, many others, making this a vibrant time to be alive. The heroes were real people, "open door" was the policy, and a chance walk into some room in the Bush Street Krishna House commune, to the sight and sounds of Alan Ginsberg playing beautiful little Chinese chimes, or seeing Jerry Garcia in line waiting to see a closed circuit heavyweight boxing title fight at Winterland, was the norm in this city that Chet helped "build." Winterland, a former ice skating rink, at Post and Steiner, may have become the first "Fillmore West," cerca 1967, before Graham re-opened it on July 16, 1968, at the old Carousel Ballroom, on Market Street. From The Essential Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (January 6, 1915 – November 16, 1973) was a philosopher, writer, speaker, and expert in comparative religion. ... Timothy Francis Leary, Ph. ... Stephen Gaskin is a counter-cultural icon best known for his presence in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in the 1960s and for co-founding The Farm, a famous spiritual Intentional Community in Summertown, Tennessee. ... Allen Ginsberg in later life Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American Beat poet born in Newark, New Jersey. ... The Diggers was a radical community-action and guerrilla-theater group from 1966-68, based in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. ... Emmett Grogan was one of the founders of the Diggers in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, California who inspired Abbie Hoffman to undertake a similar venture on the Lower East Side of New York City during the mid-1960s. ... Ken Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American author, best known for his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and as a cultural icon whom some consider a link between the beat generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. ... Jack Kerouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was an American novelist, writer, poet, artist, and part of the Beat Generation. ... Young Gary Snyder, on one of his early book covers Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet (often associated with the Beat Generation); and an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist who is frequently described as the laureate of Deep Ecology — roles reflecting his immersion in both Buddhist... Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born March 24, 1919) is a poet who is best known as the co-owner of the City Lights Bookstore and publishing house, which published early literary works of the Beat Generation, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. ... Michael McClure, an American poet and playwright, was born in Marysville, Kansas on (October 20, 1932). ... Neal Cassady, left, with Jack Kerouac, photograph by Carolyn Cassady. ... Kenneth Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator and critical essayist. ... Ralph J. Gleason (1917-1975) was an influential American jazz and pop music critic. ... Winterland was a San Francisco music venue, booked by Bill Graham, and famous for such events as The Last Waltz, countless Grateful Dead shows, Jimi Hendrix, and the final appearance of the Sex Pistols. ...

Evolution

Bill Graham Presents shows evolved more into high-power, professional lineups of better-known headline bands that made him known as the can-do guy that he was, while Chet Helms, though managing to produce top-flight bands, still showcased bands that tended to be hipper and local. Yet Helms seemed comfortable with the juxtaposition of his old-timey, art deco Avalon Ballroom (suited to the "concert as an artform" concept), with the functional wooden walls of the Fillmore money-making machine. He also didn't seem to have the need to hire zealous uniformed security guards, so teenagers found it easier to sneak into his dances. Helms ultimately allowed free admission after midnight.

The San Francisco Family Dog dances later re-emerged in a new location -- the old skating rink and "Bull Pup Enchiladas" at Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California, at 660 The Great Highway in San Francisco's Richmond district, which appropriately brought everyone closer to the "Pacific Ring of Fire" -- the Pacific Ocean, directly across the street from a surfer spot, known as "Kelly's Cove," where, according to San Francisco lore, the legendary Kelly braved the ice-cold ocean water to swim to Seal Rock every morning. Cat corner from Kelly's was the old site of Playland At the Beach, an amusement park that later closed in 1972. Ocean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco, California at the Pacific Ocean. ...

In his career Helms used other locations like ventures in Denver, Portland, and joint productions/promotions at the Fillmore, Longshoreman's Hall, and Haight Street's Straight Theater (not all formal Family Dog Dance-Concerts), etc. After an eight-year long hiatus, Helms resurged to produced various anniversary-type functions like the First "Tribal Stomp" at Berkeley's Greek Theater (1978), a Tribal Stomp in the Monterrey, California Fairgrounds (which was reportedly unsuccessful, but included the UK's The Clash), the 30th Anniversary of the Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park (1997), a free event attended by 60,000 people. This article refers to the state capital of Colorado. ... Portland is the name of numerous cities in the English-speaking world, the largest of which are Portland, Oregon and Portland, Maine in the United States. ... The Clash was one of the most successful British punk rock groups that existed from 1976 to 1986. ... The Summer of Love was a phrase given to the summer of 1967 to try to describe the feeling of being in San Francisco that summer, when the so-called hippie movement came to full fruition. ...

Although never attaining stellar financial success, it must have pleased Helms to see the recipe for "concert art," comprising theater, music, poetry, light show art, poster art, movement, and audience expression, in which he was so heavily influential, imitated globally by other pioneers and entrepreneurs. Mr. Helms again withdrew from the music production world to run Atelier Dore a San Francisco art gallery.

Chet Helms Memorial

On Oct. 30, 2005, San Francisco celebrated Chet Helms' life, and the love for Chet, after he passed away, with a free nine-hour Sunday rock concert in Golden Gate Park, named the "Tribal Stomp," http://www.2b1records.com/chetmemorial/, attended by tens of thousands, and featuring a full lineup of bands, including the old core San Francisco rock bands, and others like The Turtles, Canned Heat, Dan Hicks (singer), the Charlatans, Country Joe, Barry Melton, Blue Cheer, the Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kantner, "It's A Beautiful Day'"s David LaFlamme, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Lee Michaels, Linda Pense (Cold Blood), Nick Gravenites (Electric Flag), Harvey Mandel, Jorge Santana, Michael Narda Walden, Merle Saunders, Moby Grape's Jerry Miller, and Wavy Gravy (from Ken Kesey's "Merry Pranksters" fame). The Turtles album cover The Turtles are an American bubblegum pop, psychedelic and folk-rock band, best known for 1967s Happy Together (see 1967 in music). ... Canned Heat album cover Canned Heat is a blues-rock/ boogie band that formed in Los Angeles in 1965. ... Dan Hicks is a musician whose style blends elements of folk and jazz (and bits of other genres, too). ... Barry The Fish Melton (born June 14, 1947 in New York City) was the co-founder (1965) and original lead guitarist of Country Joe and The Fish. ... Blue Cheer was a San Francisco-based heavy metal group of the late 1960s. ... Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the LSD-influenced psychedelic rock movement. ... Its A Beautiful Day was the child of violinist and vocalist David LaFlamme, formed on a beautiful day in San Francisco in 1967. ... // Biography Valentes Involvement Quicksilver Messenger Service was one of San Franciscos original psychedelic bands in the 1960s. ... Lee Michaels (born November 24, 1945 in Los Angeles, California) is a keyboardist and vocalist. ... Biography When guitarist Mike Bloomfield left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1967, he wanted to form a band that combined blues, rock, soul, psychedelia, and jazz into something new. ... Canned Heat was a blues-rock band in the 1960s. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Merl Saunders (sometimes spelled Merle), born February 14, 1934, is a multi-genre musician who plays piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B3 organ. ... Wavy Gravy Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney on May 15, 1936) is a life-long activist for peace and personal empowerment, best known for his hippie appearance, personality, and beliefs. ... Ken Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American author, best known for his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and as a cultural icon whom some consider a link between the beat generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. ... The Merry Pranksters were a circle of people who collected around American novelist Ken Kesey and Beat literature figurehead Neal Cassady, as well as main cohort Ken Babbs. ...

Although Mssrs. Helms and Graham were on different but parallel tracks, they complemented each other, and both also gave back to the community in the form of benefit concerts. Each fulfilled a purpose.

One can say that San Francisco has a history of attracting colorful alternative lifestyles:

• the 1800s' Gangs, robbers, opium dens, gambling, brothels, bar brawls, in its rough "Barbary Coast" waterfront area A gang is a group of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities. ... Opium is a narcotic analgesic drug which is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L. or the synonym paeoniflorum). ... Gambling has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ...

• the 1950s' Beat Generation/poet/intellectual movement in North Beach, SF State, and UC Berkeley The term beat generation was introduced by Jack Kerouac in approximately 1948 to describe his social circle to the novelist John Clellon Holmes (who published an early novel about the beat generation, titled Go, in 1952, along with a manifesto of sorts in the New York Times Magazine: This is... Looking south-east Columbus Street (on the left), Stockton (on the right), and Green Street (not visible). ...

• the 1960s' Antiwar-hippy phenomenon in the Haight Ashbury Anti war protest in Melbourne, Australia, 2003 Anti-war is a term that is widely adopted by any social movement or person that seeks to end or oppose a future or current war. ... The corner of Haight and Ashbury in 2001 The Haight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, named after the intersection of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, commonly known as The Haight or, in recent years, The Upper Haight. ...

• the 1970s' Gay rights revolution in the Castro, Upper Market, and Polk Gulch The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... The sidewalk on Castro Street looking north from 18th toward Market displays some of the color of the neighborhood. ...

These somehow fit San Francisco. And it's people like Helms who helped catalyze this kind of social dynamic. San Franciscans will always remember Helms' perennial, easy smile, and how he enriched their lives in helping spawn a wealth of musical talent in their city, and in his contributions to the Peace and Love message and the rock scene of the 60's, which were often one and the same. In chemistry and biology, catalysis (in Greek meaning to annul) is the acceleration of the rate of a chemical reaction by means of a substance, called a catalyst, that is itself unchanged chemically by the overall reaction. ... A Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ...

Photomerge by Mr. Bruce Eisner. http://www.bruceeisner.com/new_culture/2005/07/